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wberry's First Timers TKR Nervous Cat

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I wanted bilateral, but my OS does not do that—she feels the risks are higher. But she did want to do the second surgery as soon as possible after the first. This was because my knees were so bent that work on rehabbing the first would be hindered by the bend in the other knee until it was fixed. (And I am finding that she was right!)

She wanted to wait six weeks at a minimum between the surgeries, so that I would replenish my own blood supply. I am still waiting for a surgery date now, well past the 6-week minimum, because she always has such a long queue for her services. The holidays make it longer, too. But...any day now!
 
@wberry, my surgeon also does not do bilaterals. Mine were done 6 weeks apart and everything was great!


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I will comment again on the four week "Light desk work."

I began driving and was off of the Oxycontin at about four weeks, and I drove on a few errands around town---no more than about 1/2 an hour.

I was wiped out and slept for about 1 1/2 hours when I got back.

At four weeks post-TKR, very, very few folks can handle "light desk work"---again, you will most likely have swelling and stiffness and you will be very tired at the end of the day. I would urge you to consider returning to work so soon.
 
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PrincessTia said:
As opposed to the emotional ones... :rotfl:

Sorry, I knew what you meant, but that little autocorrect made me choke on my tea!
Click to expand...
Yep,I check for the squiggly red lines, but I didn't see one---and that is what came out---I did change it, though---the knees may have emotion (or motion...)
 
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I agree with Tim. You need to trust your surgeon to do the right thing for you. It sounded like you had that trust in him once you met and talked. That is the most important factor.
 
@Jamie and @referee54 You folks are right, I will stop worrying. I am impressed with the technology, and if it last longer I will be happy.
My doctor was careful to paint no more rosy a picture than it will be much better than what I have now. He said it will not be like your knee was when your 18. But you will get back a lot, less running and skiing and tennis.

Yes I trust him, he has been doing work on me for 10 years now. He was so passionate in his answers and went into so much detail. He was determined to convince me on anything he felt was best, like the bilateral, the blood transfusion, the type of device, using fixed instead of floating, just about every point that wasn't a simple yes or no.

I forgot to mention, he is one of the team physicians an sergions for Kansas State University Football team. And they don't trust ther players to any one.

So since I am in the pipe, should I start a post op planning thread?
 
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It depends. We have members who have gone back to skiing and doubles tennis. You'll have to see what feels right for you.

As far as your recovery thread goes, the best thing to do is put it in place a day or so before you go in for surgery. You want to keep posting in pre-op until you actually are in recovery.
 
Check this out. I have someone who just had there right knee done. He is back in church after three weeks. On top of that he had his done at the same group I will use, the same surgeon and the same device. He says he is happy with the results, but he didn't enjoy the pain. He is going to have the other knee done next. I plan to keep up with him during his post op. Who I have a nice resource that I can converse with face to face and physically see how he is doing.


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@wberry How great that you have a knee buddy right in your own home town. However, please remember that no two knees are alike and that you're recovery will be unique to you. You've got the best of both worlds...a face to face support system as well as your online community. Rely on them both and best wishes for a smooth surgery and an uneventful recovery! :)
 
Wberry one thing I have learned is that we all prepare and recover differently and mine appears to have been far better than most which I attribute to 3 things....preparation,a great surgeon and luck....I was 5'10 and 245 pounds in summer of 2013 and have had left knee surgery from football 45 years ago and right knee 20 and 9 years ago....my right knee began to bow out 3 years ago and I developed a side to side roll when I walked and the pain in both knees gradually increased to the point where I could not play golf and started a downward slide to depression......I scheduled surgery and cancelled once and pushed the date back 2 more times partly due to concern over recovery time and worry over addiction to pain meds due to history and reading about everyone's recovery journeys.. I lost 50 pounds and began working with a trainer for my lower body particularly quads and hamstrings and also my arms with focus on triceps to help me out of chairs and to get off the toilet...I prepared myself as best I could....
My bilateral surgery was November 14 and my surgeon felt I was a good candidate based on age,health and overall condition...we reviewed the pro' s of one surgery compared to two,one trip to the hospital compared to 2 ,one time under anethesia versus two and we also discussed that some people who have one done do not go back for the second due to a host of reasons......the procedure lasted 3 hours and I was under a spinal as well as propophol to keep me sedated and I remember nothing about the procedure until the surgeon was putting the compression stockings on....I slept most of the Friday and used the patient controlled morphine freely...Saturday they got me out of bed with a few shaky steps on the walker and I asked that they remove the morphine as I was pretty much pain free....Sunday I asked the therapist to try the crutches and after about 10 steps I held them out like the flying Wallenda's and went up and down 4 steps(down much harder than up) as required in order to be released...I went home on Monday on crutches and switched to the cane on Thursday ...I have taken NO pain meds Of any kind since leaving the hospital 5 weeks ago today...

With medical clearance I started riding my motorbike and went back to work(desk job) 2 and a half weeks post op...I do a lot of PT and ice in the morning and evening although there is little to no swelling and no pain but it is comforting to chill out( no pun intended) in the recliner ....I was cleared to go to the golf course and played 4 weeks and one day after surgery swinging very easily and freely and played 5 more times last week using a golf cart....

I had my last PT session today 5 weeks post op at their suggestion because they know I will keep it up myself and the staff joked that I was patient of the year...
I laughed when I saw your YouTube posting of the karate guy walking out of his house unaided after 10 days and going to his gym 3'weeks after surgery because he was my role model and I wanted to do the same thing which I was able to achieve ...

I do not want to come across as bragging but to merely recount my journey and to say that it can be done if you are fortunate....it has given me my life back just to be able to walk and to not concentrate on every painful step and it is nice to have 2 straight legs again and to hold my head up when I walk......I wish you every success as I do everyone else who has taken this journey or who is about to embark on it.....

Vincent
 
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@vinny Thank you so much for your post. This is encouraging and I have been trying to do some of those preparation things. I have a mini gym in my home, so the recumbent bike, a universal weight unit and a glide walker. I plan to start working out on my quads and legs extensively and also do upper body strengthening to help me with my arms for support. My surgeon doesn't want to do Bilateral, so we will do one then the other 6-8 weeks later. I am determined so I am not going to elect to not go back regardless. I have had at least 8 surgeries in my lifetime due to injuries wile in the military. The most painful was my impacted kidney stone that lodges in my kidney and caused it to blow up, it had to be surgically removed. I was on a Morphine drip and it didn't help with the pain at all. Then there was my level 3 cervical fusion. My hope is that has my bare for main and debilitation raised high enough that the knee won't be as bad. Watching now three gentleman in my church on post-op is interesting. One is 6 weeks out and moving around like he never had the surgery, one is 5 weeks out and still on a walker, one is 3 weeks out and on walker, but moving well. The one still on a walker 5 weeks out was out of church for 5 weeks, the one 3 weeks out came back to church at 2 weeks, same with the one 6 weeks out. So as @referee54 mentioned, everyone's knee replacement recovery is different. My doctor is pretty confident with my current physical condition that I will have a quick recovery. I hate the heavy pain medication, and I have always tried to get off them as soon as I can. I hate the way they make me feel, thus I won't get into an addition issue.

I just want so much to be able to do the things i use to do. I can deal with no running, I'll walk instead. But to be able to hike, bike, ride my motorcycle, do some light skiing, able to photograph weddings again, it all has me so excited about the future. My only concern is the doctors decision to use a fixed knee implant instead of a floating. i think it has more to do with my alignment issue that has resulted from my bad knee. I hope it won't inhibit my range of motion or flex of the knee when i try to do all the stuff I mentioned. This is a step once taken you can put it back. the support I have gained here and the advice is fantastic. Thank you so much to you all.
 
Wberry I am glad I can help and please feel free to contact me any time ...curious as to why your surgeon does not do bilateral but they are the boss...I have had a number of surgeries and my bilateral was a walk in the park compared to my kidney stone pain perhaps because of no anesthetic with the kidney stone......I certainly see that everyone recovers differently but I would think you would do very very well......I had the chance to go airborne but in 1968 the only jump I made was when they offered me the finance corp...hope you have a great Christmas and look forward to your progress....

Vincent
 
Almost forgot my OS only does fixed and people can ski if they wish.....not sure I would want to do moguls or black diamond but skiing is not necessarily forbidden.......
 
@vinny My OS is against BTKRs as well. He said the longer you are under the greater risk for infection and the possible need for a blood transfusion as well as complications from whatever anesthetic may be used. Additionally, with two knees being done there is increased risk of DVTs. Obviously many people have had BTKRs and had great success, you included. Both of my knees were not at the same stage and with his reluctance to do both at once I had mine done roughly 8 months apart. I was hoping for a little longer but the accelerated deterioration of the 2nd knee dictated a change in plans. :)
 
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